(upbeat music) - 73,000 days, 2,400 months, 200 years that my fellow Alabamians, is how long we have been a state.

(upbeat music) As we mark got 200th birthday at this intersection of the past and the future, we acknowledge this is our story.

(upbeat music) - Alabama, my home, our home.

Thoroughly modern, yet steeped in tradition from humble beginnings to global impact, local heroes, all the way to national champions.

We may have had our ups and downs, the Alabama has grown, evolved and made huge contributions to America's legacy.

So of course we wanted to come together with family, friends, and neighbors to celebrate our bicentennial.

And as with any good celebration in Alabama, we took it to a whole new level with three years of history, reflection and fun.

The Alabama Bicentennial officially launched on March 3rd, 2017, 200 years to the day after the establishment of the Alabama territory.

The full commemoration of Alabama's path to statehood the last three years and culminate in a grand finale at the state capitol on December 14th, 2019, our 200 Alabama day, capping off one of the most substantial inclusive and far reaching bicentennial celebrations in the nation.

But before the first project presentation or party could happen, there was a lot of work to be done.

Six years before Alabama's 200th anniversary, the Alabama Bicentennial Commission was formed, led by state Senator Arthur Orr, the 12 member commission of educators, historians and cultural leaders, were drawn from around the state to represent the states of diverse communities and begin planning for this massive statewide effort.

In its earliest meetings, the commission recognized the anniversary as a once in a lifetime opportunity to undertake significant projects that could engage, serve, and acknowledge all Alabamians and maybe even inspire future generations.

All of these efforts were organized around three themes, one for each year of our commemoration, exploring our places, honoring our people and sharing our stories.

- Senator Orr the chairman of the commission, saw this way back 2012 and 13 when these conversations were beginning to happen and realized that if we wanted to do this to the best of our ability, that we were going to need time to structure those programs and get those off the ground.

So that idea turned into a three-year commemoration that was timed to coincide with the anniversary of when Alabama became a territory in 1817, and concluding with the point of statehood in late 1819.

- There was a process where we had to become a territory separated from the old Mississippi territory when Mississippi became a state.

The date of that congressional resolution to start the process of statehood in March 1817, led to a kind of a two and a half year period, from the time we started on the process to becoming a territory, until we finished becoming a state.

And that was a natural and coherent cycle.

- The commission felt like that's a good starting point and then we have a slow ramp up to December of 2019.

- And it gave us time then to build interest, to build knowledge, to build programs.

And rather than just having one artificial bicentennial year, we could commemorate and talk about this all as one process.

- So much history in America and the predicted the last 100 years, this happened in Alabama.

I think it's to the Bicentennial Committee is credit that we tried to tell the story, works and all.

- [Lee] Let's think about where Alabama's been, where we are today and where we want to go in the future.

- And our goal would be to involve every county, make people feel that they had a place in the bicentennial and that it reflected where they lived and their experience, and it's in their history, whatever that might happen to be.

- [Lee] We wanted by the time this was over for every Alabamian to feel like they've had multiple opportunities to engage in the bicentennial and what that was going to be about.

- [Arthur] And we also challenged them to do a local project or do some things that would improve your community and do it in the name of the bicentennial but some they could think about.

- To fit with those ideas, we created three major working committees, one of which was assigned to work on statewide projects that's kind of high profile, highly visible initiatives that we hope will remain visible after the bicentennial is over.

There was also a local activities committee that was charged with generating enthusiasm at the local community.

And then the third major committee was specifically focused on education.

How do we engage the K-12 community specifically and thinking about ways of bringing new resources and training and professional development to history and social studies classrooms around the state.

- Of course, to understand how Alabama became Alabama, we have to look beyond the last 200 years.

As far back as the formation of the geologic resources that have made Alabama what it is throughout time.

And to really learn from our history, we have to be honest about our past, acknowledge all those that came before us and learn the hard lessons, even as we celebrate our successes.

- One of the other things that we really stressed from the beginning, was that even though we're marking a 200th anniversary, the story was not just about 200 years.

We knew that the story really goes back and begins with the land, the physical characteristics first day, the environmental qualities and concerns that we have as a state, because those natural resources that have been here for forever are what has shaped so much of Alabama's history over time.

It's what influence where people settled, how they made their living, is the ground level literally for understanding Alabama even today.

And then you layer on top of that, this incredibly rich story of native Americans who've been here for millennia and who built a society here that was here when Europeans and Africans arrived.

That's an extremely important part of our history as well as the story of what happened to the native Americans in the early part of statehood.

- We have one federally recognized tribe here in Alabama, the Porch Creek.

We also have eight or nine state recognized tribes who are very much present and engaged and do many things around the state and are strong communities.

What stories are there to tell, where did we come from?

How has that impacted Alabama?

And it was not just a story of black and white or Indian and white, it was a story of all of us.

And there've been so many intersections in those cultures and our people that those needed to be acknowledged too.

And I think that was part of what helped us really get a good reach throughout the state and to find ways to communicate and to engage people of diverse communities.

We wanted to be intentional about that.

And not just in a sense of checking the box and saying we're done, we've done this, but to really have it be meaningful and to have it be far reaching and to create opportunities for people to come together.

- I can't think of a better place to draw inspiration for where we want to go in the future than looking to those people who have done that in the past, who have done things for us, in the systems that they've built and the societies that they've built, and the opportunities that they've secured through events like the Civil Rights Movement and other episodes in our past, to help us realize the potential that we have as Americans and as human beings.

- The bicentennial was an opportunity to come to terms with our history, to acknowledge it, and to use that as a place of strength for going forward into the future, into our third century.

- From the beginning, one of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission's deepest commitments was to education.

To achieve the broadest impact, Alabama bicentennial history institutes were created to provide professional development for educators in Alabama history, geography and social studies.

Led by master teachers and content specialists, these sessions serve over 1000 teachers and administrators over the three years.

- Teachers needed to have the resources to be able to know how to celebrate and participate in the bicentennial.

And without that, it's a missed opportunity for them to enrich their classroom and to engage their students.

- The three primary goals of the educational portion for the bicentennial, was through these professional development sessions, the engagement of communities through Alabama bicentennial schools, and to provide primary sources that were readily usable.

- These are very intensive professional development sessions lasting days that brought in content specialists.

So they might talk to an historian, might talk to an archeologist, an anthropologist, a natural historian, a scientist.

- We had them paint, they danced, they did some singing.

They did some discovery, they went to caves.

The goal of that being for teachers to go back and to say, "I don't have to go anywhere for my students to feel connected to a state.

I don't have to go anywhere to feel that I belong to a community."

- They are able to take that back to their classroom and generations of students will benefit from the investment in education that happened in the bicentennial.

- We're all working toward the same goal of raising and educating well-rounded children who are good thinkers.

History and social studies can and should be an important part of that.

- Teachers told us that they had never had the kind of training that they got on civics and social studies in Alabama history that they got over the last several years with the bicentennial.

- In 2018 to further support the commission's commitment to education and to strengthen the bonds between students and their communities, all Alabama public, private and home schools, were invited to submit proposals for their own bicentennial projects.

The 200 chosen proposals, covered a wide range of community projects, including vegetable gardens, community learning centers, and river cleanups.

And the fall of 2019, Governor Ivey recognized 21 of these participating schools as Alabama Bicentennial Schools of Excellence, awarding each a $5,000 governor's award to continue their important community work.

- A lot of times we think about people from outside donating and serving the students of a school.

We want those students to understand that as good citizens, it's their role to also serve their community.

And they did it through the bicentennial.

I hope that that kind of civic engagement will be a legacy and that it will continue.

I hope we'll see it in volunteerism in communities.

I know that we've already seen that through students, but as they grow older, it will be amazing to see how much of those lessons they carry with them.

And that would truly be one of the greatest things to come out at the bicentennial.

- Hopefully the impressions we made on those young minds, instilling the importance of our state's history and the importance of our state.

Hopefully it will come to bear fruit when they want to stay in our state and put their roots down in our state, and start a family in our state, and contribute and become invested in our state for their lives and for years to come.

- In 2019 with the support of AT&T Alabama, the Alabama Bicentennial African-American Heritage Committee published, "The Future Emergence From the Past," celebrating 200 years of Alabama African-American history and culture.

This amazing book highlights, the people, events, institutions, and movement that contributed to the rich history of Alabama during the state's first 200 years and inspired global movements.

- We had a member on our commission, Ms. Pat Ford from Huntsville, who was very interested in doing a coffee table book, and she gathered a committee together.

I included a lot of HBCU resources and others are in the African-American community, and assembled a fabulous coffee table book that walks through the history and legacy of African-Americans in the state.

- The book was a dream of mine.

I wanted to be sure that we included the people, places and events.

And we have done that with the book.

- This wonderful book that has been created, is a great representation of the kinds of the bicentennial commission wanted to have come out about three years commemoration.

- For the first time that book really brought together Alabama African-American history in a way that had not been done before.

So it looks at Alabama African-American history and people, and then accomplishments, and cultural and historical places.

Every historically black college and university in the state is recognized in the book.

- As a child, I loved reading the world book encyclopedia, and this book is going to be a wonderful collection for us to have not only in our homes for our coffee tables, but in libraries and as part of our education curriculum.

- It's beautifully illustrated with lots of information, teacher applications and things.

So it included in it so that it will be able to be used in classrooms.

Thanks to regions of Alabama, we were able to provide a copy to every school in the state and every library out in the state as well.

So that those books are there and they're available for people to use.

- Thanks to funding and support by the state legislature and key corporate partners, many ambitious statewide projects by Alabama's agencies and organizations came to fruition.

A few among them were programs like the Alabama Past Report, which encourage visits to state historic sites and museums, read "Alabama 200" featuring noted Alabama authors, top 85 programs before the end of 2019, and Alabama Public Television produced 200 Alabama legacy moments.

Short spots that focused on many of Alabama's noteworthy people, places and events.

Over the three-year commemoration, several traveling exhibitions by the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Alabama Humanities Alliance, the Birmingham Public Library, and Troy University among others toward the state.

Alabama's larger cities joined in the effort with their own commemorations and events.

Mobile, the state's oldest city, hosted the official bicentennial launch on May 5th, 2017 with governor Kate Ivy in her first official public appearance and magnificent fireworks over the river.

Birmingham hosted its first bicentennial celebration on Magic City Classic Weekend to the tune of three marching bands, Alabama state, Alabama A&M and UAB, and put on a free concert by the temptations with Jennifer holiday, Ruben Studdard, and Alabama's on Bo Bice.

Tuscaloosa which also celebrated its 200th birthday in 2019, hosted all-star concerts, community book lectures and school history activities.

Huntsville decided the state's first constitutional convention posted the debut of the US postal services, Alabama bicentennial stamp in conjunction with the special commemorative gathering of the Alabama legislature, and a reenactment of President James Monroe's surprise visit in June, 1819, to see firsthand the place that will become the nation's 22nd state.

Given the bicentennial commissions drive to include all Alabamians, no town or community was too small to participate.

To support them, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Alabama Humanities Alliance, Alabama Tourism Department, Alabama Public Library Service and Alabama Historical Commission offered their grant programs, combined almost $4 million was made available for communities, counties and special projects.

And those communities really showed up.

They restored cemeteries, hill parades, hosted fairs.

They publish works on local history and sponsored concerts for every musical taste.

Groups organized to promote existing trails and establish new ones, oral histories and city murals captured and preserved community personalities and stories.

Towns decorated with banners and signs.

These destinations drew visitors from within and outside the state, strongly supported by the Alabama Tourism Department and organizations like Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourists Association.

- This was not just a bicentennial or commemoration that was going to happen in the big cities or the places we think of as having resources and being able to mobilize.

What happened in the local communities, in the smaller communities and the counties throughout the state, spoke to an engagement that was just so impressive.

- To see people on their own initiative, want to come forward, volunteer, participate, be a part of it, to me was extremely gratifying because they wanted to celebrate as well and they brought their talents with them.

- Every one of our 67 counties had committees that it formed or within the county were formed to help commemorate the bicentennial that we had more than 200 official community committees throughout the state that's doubled the number of counties.

- One of the most important aspects of this project for me, has been to learn about the many things that go on in our state.

It's one thing to be in a large city like Birmingham, and learn about all the things that we do here, symphony or opera, or our great museum, but to learn about the communities that have come together from far northeast and south, some of them small communities, and just to do one thing and share that with the rest of our state and the world, has been remarkable.

- Those small towns and those communities, they just have so much to tell us.

And they give us that anchor that no matter how far we go away in our travels or in our lives or our occupations, we still have a part of Alabama's with us always.

- Alabama's always been renowned for the talent and dedications of its people.

And there was no shortage of artistic contributions for the occasion.

There were touring dance performances, visual art exhibits, author readings and theater works as well as many film and media productions.

See Creatives, Alabama in the making documentary, chronicle two years of work by artists Caleb O'Connor and University of Alabama Foundry Director, Craig Weatherspoon, as they produce 16 bronze sculptures for Alabama's Bicentennial Park In the final year of the bicentennial, the Alabama tourism department calendar included almost 1000 events, more than 500 endorsed as official bicentennial event from the New Year's Moon Pie Drop in Mobile, to the 4th of July fireworks over Birmingham's Vulcan, to ceremonies with federally recognized tribes and finally Montgomery Alabama Day Festivities on December 14th, 2019 alone, saw 30 bicentennial committee signature events.

- We started out the year with a Moon Pie Drop in Mobile, on new year's Eve and new year's day.

That is the oldest city in the state.

It had already celebrated a tricentennial.

We were thrilled to be there because they know how to throw a party and they kicked us off in great style.

So after that, we traveled around the state to recognize important holidays and events.

We were at Vulcan for the 4th of July, and there are fireworks like you've never seen over Volcan.

We'd celebrated Thanksgiving with the Porch Creek at their annual powwow.

And then we wound up the year coming to Montgomery to the state capitol, which I think is as it should be.

That's the heart of our state.

That's the people's place in our state and over three days, we really celebrated.

- As the bicentennial year came to a close, a host of partners wrapped up years of preparation for the bicentennial finale weekend.

The main event on Saturday, December 14th, our 200th Alabama day, opened with the parade from Downtown Montgomery, towards the Capitol featuring marching bands, floats and antique fire truck, elected officials and celebrities.

- [Jay] The 14th opened with a parade coming toward the capitol with bands from all over the state and kids and lots of celebration, lots of music.

- We had important partners like the Alabama Bicentennial Commission office and the city of Montgomery, which really took the lead on the parade that day.

The bicentennial office and the governor's office helps shape the noon program and the park dedication.

- The dedication of Alabama Bicentennial Park, was one of the highlights of the Alabama day finale festivities with many national and international dignitaries and celebrities present, and speeches by governor Ivey and Senator Orr, the unveiling of each of the monuments one by one.

Telling an Alabama story, drove home the significance of our three-year commemoration.

- In the Alabama Bicentennial Park as another one of those statewide projects that is I think in a very important new statement by the state of Alabama, in terms of recognizing some of that difficult history, dealing with it in a forthright manner, putting it right there on the front lawn of the state capitol literally, and doing that in a way where, when people come to Montgomery, they're going to see so many important chapters of our past that are illuminated through museums and historic sites, and other things here in Montgomery.

- It's not just the stories of our heroes and heroines or the known people and the known events, but it really draws on everyday life and from all parts of the state.

So that if you are a child coming to Montgomery for the fourth grade visit to the state capitol, you can visit Alabama Bicentennial Park.

It's more than just a monument, it's a piece of kind of almost living history in a way, because it shows Alabamians in the midst of life and in the midst of important events, but also in the midst of everyday events.

- Now, the state has this very prominent outdoor statement that is also beautiful because it's cast in bronze and the product of this amazing creativity and artistry.

I think it makes a very important statement about how we see ourselves today and again, where we want to be going as we look into the future.

- What an amazing tribute to our state's history, being able to come to Bicentennial Park and see the development of our state, our people, our culture, our natural resources, and all the things that have made Alabama, what it is today.

- As far as something that people can go see and touch for years to come, school children or other visitors to Montgomery, to our state's capitol, will be able to enjoy a rendition of our state's history and snapshots in history.

The Bicentennial Park is a legacy project that I think will be appreciated for generations to come.

- The afternoon festivities encompass the lawns of the capitol and the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Reenactors from various periods in Alabama history, including native Americans, World War One soldiers, and the Tuskegee airmen, interacted with several thousand attendees, NASA, Mountville and the Black Belt Museum offer interactive and entertaining activities and displays.

- We had a festival area that the Department of Archives and History was essential and putting together.

Alabama State Council on the Arts had an art exhibit and things going on in its office.

Dexter Avenue Church opened its doors and had speeches and music and programming throughout the day.

I mean, there were things happening all over the capitol area.

- The evening concert featured an all-star lineup of Alabama musicians from Eddie Floyd to Taylor Hits, The John Paul White, and Jett Williams.

As the concert closed, a dramatic 3D light projection show, a gift from the Porch Band of Creek Indians, animated the face of the attorney general's building.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] The 20th century brought new opportunities and new (indistinct).

(orchestral music) - [Edwin] Our state is so rich in history and culture.

And just being in the position to learn about that history, has impacted me in an amazing way.

Just to think about all the Alabamians that have played a significant role throughout history and our development, and in who we are is amazing.

- It was a great day and a lot of work went into it by a lot of people and I have to give a lot of credit to our executive director, Miss Jay Lamar, who for so many years worked towards this day, this final birthday celebration, if you will.

But just a good day where young and old and all walks of life from our state could just come together in Montgomery and celebrate.

- There were just so many good things about the bicentennial.

It ran in so many different directions.

It was just a joy to be a part of it.

- Of course, Governor Ivey, Governor Bentley in his days, were both supportive in attending events and being available when we needed them.

And of course, a voice in their support when it came to financial resources for the effort.

- This committee could not have done the work it did with all of the energy and all the excitement without support from the private sector.

- We had major funding and support from Alabama Power, Alabama Power Foundation, Regions Bank, AT&T Alabama, Coca-Cola Bottling United and other companies around the state.

And not only did they give a financial resources, but they also launched their people.

They provided sites.

They showed up in so many ways to help make sure that this bicentennial was able to achieve what we set out to do.

- One of the things that makes maybe our 200th anniversary, especially important, is for the first time in our history, all Alabamians are together.

All Alabamians worked on celebrating this together, all Alabamians participated.

It was a celebration of all of our history and I think that was really important.

- One of the most amazing stories that you can find of any state in this United States, unfolded within the borders of Alabama.

- I'd like to see one of the legacies of this bicentennial effort, that people are proud to be from our state, hopefully by coming together as one people regardless of whether you're African-American, white, native American, Hispanic, it doesn't matter.

We're all here and we're all here for the future and that's where I hope we cast a vision for our future, that let's join together and let's make this state a better place.

- I hope our bicentennial will not be remembered just as a great event, but one where people will be able to come and experience and see all the great pieces that were developed from the three-year celebration that we had.

One that will carry our legacy on into the future forever.

- The bicentennial is over, but the hope, the aspirations, the vision, the mission we hope is so deeply ingrained that it will continue.

Those opportunities for civic engagement, for students, for young people, for teachers.

- And I'm just so pleased that we had an opportunity to include the people, the places and the events that actually had an impact on this state.

- Arthur Orr knew it was going to take a long time to tell the story.

I think we're all be proud of what took place.

- This opportunity that the bicentennial represented to be able to do something that is going to inform and assist, and enable us into the future is the reason to do it.

And I hope we accomplished at least some of that.

- It has given us an opportunity to reevaluate where we've been and to own our history, whether it's attractive or not.

We've had those tough conversations about where we've been and how can we go in a more positive direction for the future.

- Oh yes, the opportunity to reevaluate where we've been and to own our history.

Isn't that what this is really about?

So here in Alabama, we know how much there is to learn from the past.

And one of those lessons, is that working together sets us on a course for a promising future.

The Alabama Bicentennial Commission office rallied around a simple motto; it takes a state, and indeed it does.

Years of hard work by so many across the state, from the highest leadership, state agencies, partner organizations, to cities and communities of every size and countless individuals from every geographic corner, have brought us to a deeper understanding of the past, to an appreciation for what we can do together and to a hopeful start of Alabama's third century, congratulations Alabama.

(upbeat music) - And it's not only a story of our past, but more importantly, it's about where we intend to go.

And it's up to each of us to help chart that course.

Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow Alabamians, let us now go into our third century, confident of this.

Our future is guaranteed to be brighter if we travel this road to together.

Thank you everyone for joining us today as we celebrate Alabama's bicentennial.

(crowd applauds) (fireworks cracking) (upbeat music)